Letters to the editor for Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, continued

Saturday

Oct 30, 2010 at 2:00 AM

An open letter to our next governor:

An open letter to our next governor:

When you begin your tenure, I ask you to take a close look at the creative collaborations of private and public conservation agencies. Because of the Hudson Valley Greenway, federal monies have been leveraged to institute smart growth.

Working together to save taxpayer monies, the Department of Environmental Conservation, New York Parks, Scenic Hudson and Clearwater have protected and preserved our beautiful environment. It is that work that allows some of our greatest industries, agriculture and tourism, to thrive. Help ensure the resources necessary for the protection of the Hudson Valley region.

Cindy LanzettaMarlboro

I am perplexed about the people calling themselves "tea partiers." They appear to be middle-aged to seniors in age. Don't they realize their leaders and elected candidates advocate the privatization of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the repeal of health-care reform and the abolition of the Department of Education? Perhaps their antipathy to government would also mean the elimination of police and fire departments.

Can it be they are so wealthy that they think they may never need government to come to their aid? Don't they worry about the effects of growing old, serious or sudden health problems or losing a job? What do they mean that they "want their country back"?

Should we really invest our Social Security and Medicare funds in the stock market, as President George W. Bush advocated? Or perhaps they want to unregulate the banking industry to bring our country back to the brink of disaster. Maybe they want to go back to before we had elected our first African-American president? No, thank you!

Esther NasonKingston

This year is very exciting for conservatives. It appears that people have opened up their eyes to the fact that the big government philosophy just does not work.

The Democrats and their philosophy have controlled all branches of the state government for far too long. This is why my vote will be for Annie Rabbitt. Rabbitt was conservative long before it was cool to be. Despite being in the minority, Rabbitt has many legislative accomplishments. She has fought hard to keep our taxes as low as possible and understands the needs of the small-business owner as well as the hardworking middle class.

Mark CoyneMiddletown

Please remember to vote on Election Day and recall why our government has had to intervene to the extent that it has. Recall why unions were formed. Reflect on why banking and tax regulations are required. Why health-care reform was necessary.

Then cast your vote for the candidate that will hold sacred and fight for the middle class so that we are not taken advantage of by the greed of the wealthiest who have the nerve to still call themselves Americans. Those who ship our jobs overseas yet still market their product here and profit, who do not want to pay their fair share of taxes, who do not want their "loopholes" closed, who do not care if we become sick and require extensive medical care, who do not care if they raise their interest rates so high that paying your debt off is virtually impossible, who do not care if you lose your home and certainly to not care about your ability to retire and enjoy the fruits of your labor on the money that you have had taken out of your paycheck your entire working life.

Some intervention, though not perfect, is still divine.

Debby-Ann AntonioOtisville

Christine O'Donnell is ignorant, says Leonard Pitts. Why is this the favorite tactic of the liberal elite? Of course he gave his favorite target, dumb ol' George Bush, a kick as well. Bush and Kerry were both D students; and if Christine O'Donnell is an embarrassment as a candidate for office, how about Al Sharpton for president? The elite say bow to the intellect of Mr. Obama, but did you ever know an honor student to secrete their grades?

The First Amendment was not applied to the states until the 1830s, and many states had a religious requirement to hold office. The "separation of church and state" stems from a court decision in the 1940s, not 1789. Followed to its logical conclusion, atheism becomes the state religion.

How about "settled law," based on how many years a decision has remained unaltered? Really? Bad decisions have stood for decades, from Dred Scott, separate but equal, to caveat emptor. Were they settled law? Hardly.

Ignorance is to cite history falsely to extol politics, like Leonard Pitts. By the way, isn't the seat in Delaware Joe Biden's old seat? It's apparent both parties have plenty of ignorance to spare.

Kenneth T. JonesHuguenot

Your Oct. 25 opinion page Jeers section criticized Delaware U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell for her asking her opponent where in the Constitution is separation of church and state. You pompously indicate she's ignorant since it's clearly in the First Amendment.

The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, ratified December 15, 1791, states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute contains this entry: "For the men who wrote the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment the 'establishment' of a religion connoted sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity."

Thomas Jefferson argued for a wall of separation between church and state in a letter he wrote in 1802 to the Danbury Baptist Association, more than 10 years after the Bill of Rights was adopted.

As seen from reading our First Amendment, "separation of church and state" is not included.

Perhaps the Record should spend more time tracking the dysfunctional government in our own state and suggest we clean house in Albany Nov. 2 instead of taking potshots at candidates outside the sad excuse we call our state government.

Jeffrey GliedmanWallkill

I hope the people of the 100th Assembly District will join me in electing Tom Kirwan back to the Assembly Nov. 2.

Tom is a proven leader who will not be tricked into voting along party lines as his opponent has for the past two years. He is an independent thinker and a true maverick, just what Albany needs. Put Tom Kirwan back in Albany so he can fight the good fight.

Lori CerisanoNewburgh

Republicans for Roxie!

"What you mean you can't take on Albany? Grass-roots advocacy is the strongest power for changes. Yes, you can."

This echoed in my head as I advocated taking on Assemblyman Silver and his opposition to pass the PINS (Persons in Need of Supervision) law from 16 to 18 years old. Roxie had the moxie to lobby with us, support us and mentor us as we (parents of troubled youth) were challenged by our biggest adversaries in the assembly.

Roxanne, a true fighter and advocate for youth and families, for years stuck with us in the trenches, to the late night in the Assembly chambers, after a turbulent battle rallying outside the Capitol (yelling on bullhorns for Shelly Silver to give in and pass this bill for families). They said it wouldn't happen, but Roxanne would not hear it.

This is a person we need to represent us in Albany — someone who finds the time to stand up for what is right, a true fighter.

Had enough? Vote for Roxanne Donnery. Yes, she can do it.

Joy HansenPRAFAC (PINS Reform and Family Advocacy Coalition)

In Tuesday's edition of the Record, Rep. John Hall says, "When jobs are at stake it's not time to be philosophical; it's time to act." This statement is certainly informative, for it is only now that I understand how Hall could have supported TARP and the stimulus act.

He could support these acts because he did not have time to think critically about them. Jobs were being lost — who had time to think about unintended consequences, about the legitimate powers of government, or about the federal deficit? Who had time to question whether the stimulus's promise to keep unemployment under 8 percent would be true or not?

And now that unemployment has climbed to more than 9.5 percent, it is clearly not time to rethink our strategy, because jobs are being lost! Critical thinking is for ivory tower academics, not the people who make our government's policy.

It would be silly, in light of this new information, to quote a philosopher. After all, the unemployment rate is still very high. And yet, it just seems so relevant to quote Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek: "Today's hegemonic ideology is this kind of state of emergency ideology. What we need is to withdraw and think."

Harmon SiegelBedford Hills

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